Don't you wanna snuggle it? Or okay, maybe just pet it? It looks so fluffy! Like those cartoon birds in a Pixar film. This, my dears, is a Tawny Frogmouth. From far away, it can be mistaken for an owl, but please don't embarrass yourself in front of others and call it an owl, okay? My neighbour and I spotted one in her yard a few months back, and I was excited to see one up close. I don't really know why. I'm not really a bird person. But isn't it appealing, this bird?Some of you (you know who you are) will need to forgive me when I tell you that the name Tawny Frogmouth makes me think of an exotic dancer. Or perhaps a TV news anchorwoman. You know, like, "Reporting live from the 14th Annual Chickpea Festival, I'm Tawny Frogmouth." If you're wondering whether I spent the whole day yesterday making Tawny Frogmouth jokes to myself, you would be right. "I painted the sunroom the most sublime shade of green. It's Behr's Tawny Frogmouth." "Well, the first few days of our Fiji vacation were fabulous, but then Troy caught Tawny Frogmouth from the salad bar at the hotel. I know, right? That rash took ages to clear up."
Shall I go on? No?
Yesterday, we went to the Australian Reptile Park. Today is Father's Day in Australia, and we celebrated a day early. We had a great time checking out all the animals. I got to pet the cutest little baby wombat! Grace mostly followed the emus around. They didn't seem to wanna hang around her.
She marched after these 2 for quite a while, shouting, "Hey!"We had a fun Father's Day service at church today, and then had a barbecue and bonfire with some friends tonight.
Our friend Holly shared her last bag of American marshmallows with us. That is true friendship. Of course, a bonfire is not exactly relaxing when you have a 2 year old on the scene. Grace has no concept yet of fire safety, as you might imagine. We wrangled, we distracted, we admonished. Jason eventually gave up and brought her home early--a father doing his job on Father's Day. What a dude. And then the rest of us watched the little dog chase the alpacas around. What? You don't have alpacas at your Father's Day BBQ and marshmallow roast? That's odd.
With very busy weeks on either side, it was a great weekend. How are you? Any interesting wildlife sightings?
Well, from all of us here in suburban Sydney, I'm Tawny Frogmouth. You stay classy.
I love the tawny frogmouth! It looks fearsome and wise at the same time. Was Grace at all scared to go near the emus? It looks like it was a fun day for everyone. Fathers' Day in September. Shared ,marshmallows around a fire. Priceless. Love it!
ReplyDelete"I'm Tawny Frogmouth, of the Savanah Frogmouths.". Wasn't that a line from Gine With The Wind?
ReplyDeleteYour American readers will recognize the T. Frogmouth as a member of the Nightjar family which includes the Whipoorwill.
"Brent was an optimistic young man; careless and bold. His laughter was loud and was often heard echoing through the dimly-lit lounge of Al's Bar and Dry Cleaners. But that all changed the day he met Tawny Frogmouth. Lovely and cruel, she played with his devotion to her like it was a shiny toy; until she grew tired of it and threw it in the dust. And Brent learned the hardest lesson of all: Tawny Frogmouth may have been flesh and blood, but that woman had no heart."
ReplyDeleteTHIS IS SO FUN. LET'S NEVER EVER STOP!!
You guys are killing me! Ask dad to share the OTHER tawny frogmouth vignette he wrote.
ReplyDeleteYou are hilarz.
He emailed it to me and it did not disappoint. It wants a wider audience, Dad!
ReplyDeleteSuch a sweet picture =).
ReplyDelete"Harry was happy to be back at Hogwarts again. He was thrilled to be taking over for Professor McGonagall as the Transfiguration professor, but he quite dreaded meeting his colleague, the newly-appointed Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Tawny Frogmouth."
ReplyDelete"So, I told him, you should just stop and ask for directions, you know? But you know men, he said he knew how to get there, and sure enough, ten minutes later we ended up outside the State Prison in Tawny Frogmouth."
Never, NEVER stop.
Beth, that was amazing! You win the Internet. How does it feel?
ReplyDeleteYay! I won the internet! I'd like to thank my muse, Tawny Frogmouth..."
ReplyDeleteI can't STOP!